So last night I wrote this whole post about what happened and what I did but unfortunately when I went to post it it disappeared:( So tonight's blog includes yesterday and today.
Yesterday was the first day of classes for international students. I am taking an art and design class as well as a Spanish class. Art and design which only has 2 people in it, including me, was from 9 to 10am and although the teacher's English is sometimes hard to understand the class seems like it's going to be a lot of fun. Spanish was from 3 to 6pm and that one has 6 people in it. Although I didn't place into the Spanish class that I had wanted to and yesterday was really easy, it's nice to get back in the swing of things and increase my confidence. There's 2 other girls who have had Spanish experience and during our breaks the professor made it a point to talk to us and ask us questions because we're more experienced.
Between classes, Christian (our leader or babysitter, as he calls himself) took another student, Ethan and me to the airport to look into our luggage. Supposedly both of ours were in Lima yesterday and they said it was possible that it could come in on the last flight at 4pm or this morning. Needless to say I still haven't seen my luggage. I would literally pay money to get my suitcase and be able to change out of the clothes I've been wearing for 3 days.
Last night there was a big soccer game between Peru and Mexico and some friends and I went to a bar to watch the game. We had some really gross shrimp empanaditas but some of my other friends got desert which was really good. We had to leave during half time because 3 of the people with me were getting on a bus to Puno and Lake Titicaca at 9:30pm. I wish I could've gone but Puno is actually higher in elevation than Cusco and it gets much colder there and because I have not luggage I have no pants, so I'm staying in Cusco for the weekend.
This morning my friend Mary and I went to the Mega which is the supermarket here because we needed some food and drinks. You can't drink the water here so I stocked up as well as getting some Sprite and juice, that tastes much like Sunny Delight. Many of the juices here are thick and are called nectar instead of juice. I also bought some snacks and ramen, which I'm not proud of but the cooking facilities in my apartment are limited. Mary bought this really tasty roll that had just come out of the oven it was called pan de yema, I think.
After we came back from the market we met Gustavo, who is the director for the international students here and 3 other people and I went on a city tour. We first went to a statue of Pachacuteq, a great Inca Emperor who built the main cities as well as Machu Picchu and Sacsayhuaman, where I plan to go tomorrow. We then walked north toward the Plaza de Armas where we stopped at a open air market. They're all over the city and sell everything. The fruit selection is awesome, they have pineapple, grapes, bananas, mangos and other fruit we have in the US. But also they have fruit special to South America or Peru, one is the Cherimoya which has a shell and then white flesh that is quite delicious. It also has many health benefits supposedly being 10x more powerful than radiation when treating cancer but unfortunately hospitals are discouraging and fighting against the use of it. At the market there is also a meat section which is repulsive, I have no idea why have the population of Peru isn't dead. There is no refrigeration, all the meat is just laying out or hanging up. The smell is horrible!!
We ate at this really cheap place for lunch, there's a set menu but for 10 soles you get 3 courses. We had potato salad which had ham, cheese and I think yuca then a traditional Peruvian soup with meat and veggies and for the main meal rice and lamb in a yummy sauce. After our bellies were full, we all got pretty tired so we walked back to La Casa where I took a short siesta.
In my guidebook I had read about a cafe that had really good hot chocolate in the San Blas area near La Plaza de Armas. So me and Mary decided to take a stroll to the Plaza and then on to get some hot chocolate. While we were trying to find the cafe we stumbled upon the famous 12 angle stone, why the Incas felt it necessary to fit a 12 angle stone into one of their perfectly built walls no one knows. Mary and I then found the cafe and ordered 2 hot cocoas. This was the best hot chocolate on the planet, it was frothy and dusted with cocoa on top, delicious!!
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